The Suite Life X
by Waxing Shadow
Summary: The Suite Life Gang are in for quite a shock when they find themselves in the world of Mega Man X. Will they have the strength and courage to "fight for everlasting peace" alongside the Blue Bomber of the 22nd Century? Read on and find out!
1. Chapter 1: Lighting Up the Night

**Welcome all to my first crossover on the site, The Suite Life X! This one... is one I've been wanting to do for a while, so without further ado... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Suite Life Series. That belongs to It's a Laugh Productions and Disney.**

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><p>Throughout the annals of all recorded history, there have been those who are regarded by the world (or the worlds they inhabit) as heroes. They come in many forms. Some are intelligent, some are instinct-driven. Some are fighters through and through, while others may constantly ask themselves "What am I fighting for?" The heroes mentioned herein may come from the most unlikely of places, but that… Ah, screw it. Let's just get on with it, already!<p>

The sun was just beginning to set somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, bathing the sailing S.S. Tipton in a bright orange glow. Manning a smoothie stand on an area of the ship known as the "Sky Deck" was a blonde teenager by the name of Zack Martin. It had been a slow day, so he was very relaxed. In fact, he was so much so that he was actually asleep on the job! He was sleeping rather peacefully until a familiar voice woke him up.

"Zack. Zack… ZACK!"

The teen in question came back to reality to find his younger brother Cody and his girlfriend Bailey staring back at him, and neither looked amused in the slightest. The former spoke fist.

"Nice of you to join us, Zack. May I ask how long you've been out?"

Wiping sleep from his eyes, Zack looked at his watch. "Uh… about thirty minutes. Why?"

"Hmm… How should I say this?" Cody pondered aloud. He was about to prepare a lecture on work ethics when he realized something. "You know what? I really don't need to say anything this time because those guys right there can say it for me."

Zack looked over in the direction that his brother was motioning towards to find a massive line of customers. Soon, the older twin was swamped by complaints and orders, causing him to scramble desperately to tend to everyone. It was nearly dark by the time he'd finished.

Meanwhile, in her (and Bailey's) room, Hotel Heiress London Tipton was shuffling through tabloids, looking for any sign of the latest trends. She had been voted as one of the "Top 10 Richest Youths" by _Jobs Business Magazine_, and was not content with staying there. She had to be number one, and she figured that the way to get there was to stay current.

"… Nope… Nope… Nope… Who even wears those anymore? Ugh!" London let out a discouraged sigh. She needed a break.

She'd decided to head to the smoothie bar on the Sky Deck. She was greeted by Cody and Bailey, not that she paid them any attention. She was focused on her smoothie. "Zach, I'm so glad you're here! I _need _a medium smoothie, strawberry banana. It's an emergency!"

Zach groaned and rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. Coming right up."

After getting her smoothie, she sat down at Bailey and Cody's table.

"London! I haven't seen you all day!" Bailey greeted cheerfully, trying to hide the fact that she was secretly happy to have the stipendiary of the Tipton fortune out of her hair for once. "What've you been up to?"

"If you must know, I've been voted as 5th richest teen in the world…" London began.

"…by _Jobs Business Magazine_." Cody finished "We know."

Ignoring Cody, London continued, "Anyway, if I want to stay com… compet…"

"Competitive." Cody assisted.

"…then I have got to be on top of the latest trends."

"Any luck with that so far?" Bailey Inquired.

London shook her head dejectedly. "No…"

"Don't worry about it." Cody reassured. "These kinds of things operate in a cycle." A befuddled stare from the youthful Tipton prompted more explanation. "By the time you even find out what's 'in', it'll probably be 'so last season', as you put it."

While London didn't really understand all that Cody had said, she did feel better for some reason. She smiled at the intelligent twin and continued to enjoy her smoothie.

"That was very sweet of you, Cody!" Bailey praised. "You know, you could become a motivational speaker. Do you think they offer those kinds of classes at Yale?"

Cody looked lovingly into his girlfriend's eyes as he said, "Trust me, you're the only motivation I'll ever need."

That led to the couple giggling at each other while swapping loving remarks. Now Zack was the unamused one.

After mocking the pair's giggling, Zack remarked, "Oh, would you two just get a room already?"

"We'll get ours when you clean yours." Cody retorted with a smirk.

Zack glared touchily at his brother. "Touché."

As the elder twin began to close up shop for the night, he noticed a white light shining from the sky above. Since the moon was supposed to be "new" tonight (according to Cody), it couldn't have been that. "Um… guys, are you seeing this?"

Everyone else looked up to see what Zack was talking about. They stared at the light, hopelessly transfixed as it grew brighter and brighter until… darkness ensued.

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><p><strong>Oh, I really hope I got the characterizations right! If you enjoyed, a review always helps!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Enter the Maverick Hunters

**This chapter gets the reader up to speed on the "X-Trio" and makes things interesting. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life Series or Mega Man X. Disney and Capcom, respectively are the owners.**

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><p><em>Sometime in the 22<em>_nd__ Century…_

Reploids, highly advanced robots capable of the ability to think, feel, and act entirely of their own accord, cooperate with humans to create a peaceful society. There are problems, however; those reploids of whom cause destruction and chaos, or Mavericks, have become a constant source of discord throughout the world. In response, the "Father of Reploids" Dr. Cain founded the Maverick Hunters, an organization dedicated to combating this threat.

There are three Hunters of this organization that stand above all others. The first of them is Mega Man X, better known as X. His design and unique mental capacities served as the basis for all reploids that came afterward. Next is Zero, a powerful and highly advanced robot (though curiously, not actually a reploid himself) with a warrior's spirit and a mysterious past. The third member is Axl. This brash young hunter is also the prototype of a new generation of reploids that would be able to adapt to their situations using an innate "copy ability".

It had been rather slow lately at Hunter Base, and Axl was getting restless. Nothing major in the way of Maverick outbreaks had happened in a few months, and if he had to sit at a computer and "navigate" for the small cadre of Hunters he had under his command for one more day, he feared he might go crazy. Luckily for the dual-wielding Hunter, his day was not to be that monotonous. Zero and X had called him to a meeting. They said it was very important. As he walked down the hall with his fellow hunters, he couldn't help but wonder what it was about. He turned to X. "So, X. You know what they want to see us for?"

The Blue Bomber just shrugged his shoulders "Beats me. Alia just said something about three new recruits and ran out."

"Same here." Zero added.

Axl cringed. He really didn't want to babysit three more rookie hunters. He wanted to be out in the field, using Mavericks as target practice.

Upon entering the repair bay, they were greeted by the top navigator herself, along with 3 stasis pods. "Take a good look, boys. These three New Generation Reploids will be your direct protégés."

"What? Now I have more of them to take care of? This is so unfair! I just want to take out some Mavericks, not play teacher to a bunch of newbies!"

"Now, Axl. I assure you, these three are very different." A male voice spoke up from the corner of the room. It was none other the commander of the Maverick Hunters, Signas. "These three possess unique talents and skills that would make them very valuable members of the team. In short, these aren't your ordinary rookies. Come take a look."

The Hunter Trio took a look at the three pods. The first two Reploids looked rather similar. The leftmost one had a red, bulky frame with gray-plated knuckles, while the rightmost one had a slimmer frame with an arm cannon similar to X's own. Curiously, both had blonde artificial hair just like Zero's, although it wasn't arranged in a ponytail like the latter's. The third one appeared to be female. She had a gold framework and long, black hair. The girl was welding what appeared to be a mechanical crossbow.

Alia soon got the group's attention again. "Now, you're probably wondering what their names are. Trust me, they're… quite unusual. Especially the girl on the right."

"Well, out with it. What are their names?" Zero asked impatiently.

"From left to right: Zack, Cody, and London."

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><p><strong>Well, did you enjoy? I'd really like to hear your feedback.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: Technical Specifications

**This one gives some insight into the Suite Life gang's capabilities as Reploids.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 2. **

Chapter 3

Loading data… COMPLETE

Conducting analysis… COMPLETE

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><p>Model: ZM-2005 "Twin Unit"<p>

A.I. Age: 16

Codename: Zack

Body Specifications: Built with a rugged, armored plating designed to minimize damage. Pressurized thrusters on legs allow for enhanced jumping ability.

Weapon: Specially designed plating on hands and feet, or "Z-Knuckle" grants tremendous strength, allowing for strikes that hit with tremendous force. Armor also grants improved durability

Notes: This is the first Reploid that specializes in hand-to-hand combat.

Continuing analysis…

Model: CM-2005 "Twin Unit"

A.I. Age: 16

Codename: Cody

Body Specifications: Lean, sleek frame allows for added mobility. Radar in headpiece allows for readings of surroundings with 92% accuracy. Speed enhanced by 30% when system health falls below 50%.

Weapon: Arm cannon "C-Buster" specifically designed for small, but accurate shots. Can be charged for a bigger shot in exchange for speed.

Concluding analysis…

Model: LT-2011

A.I. Age: Unknown

Codename: London

Body Specifications: Designed to be fast and light, with minimal padding. Able to hover great distances due to a thruster pack hidden in back sheathing. Laser-guided eyepiece reticule allows for optimum precision.

Weapon: Mechanical crossbow "L-Bow" can fire many different projectiles.

Analysis complete.

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><p><strong>If you liked it (or not), I would love to hear your thoughts!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: Waking Up

**This time, we're back with The Suite Life Gang. This one is long, so please, bare with it. The real action kicks off soon, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1-3.**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Cody awoke from what seemed like a dreamless sleep with a start. Naturally, he took note of his surroundings. _Let's see. I'm in a tube in some sort of laboratory with four robots staring back at me. _Then, he took the time to process that thought. His result: a resounding _WHAT? _As he tried to come to grips with what he was seeing, the blue robot spoke up.

"Hey, guys. It looks like one of them is finally awake."

With that, the tube Cody was in opened and he managed to stand up despite the shock he was in. He instinctually stretched his arms. It was then that it hit him: he didn't know what he was, but it certainly wasn't human. His body was encased in a dark blue armor. His feet (or at least, what took their place) were two hoof-like boots that seemed to be part of his body. His hands appeared to be gloves with white fingers that were supported by blue covering on the palm and back of each hand. His left arm also seemed to have an attachment of some kind rimming around it. After examining this change in wardrobe. He looked towards the other robots. The blue one, again was the first to speak.

"Hello, Cody. My name is Mega Man X, but most people just call me X. Nice to meet you."

X seemed friendly enough, but the younger Martin twin was still quite terrified. When he managed to find his voice and calm himself down enough to use it, he asked, "What am I? What's going on here?"

"You're what's known as a Reploid."

"What's that?"

"It's a highly advanced robot." This voice was not X's, but of the robot… or, Reploid standing next to him. The one in question was red with a blonde ponytail. In spite of his appearance, his voice was very much male. "Able to think and feel on its own, a Reploid can make decisions like a human can."

Cody's confusion gave way to fascination as he listened to X and, as he learned, Zero's description of and brief history lesson on Reploids. Evidently, his own personality and memories hadn't been "lost in the shuffle", so to speak.

"So, let me get this straight." The human-turned-Reploid began. "X here was the first in a line of robots that are pretty much human in every way except physically?"

"Yup. Pretty much." The voice came from a female Reploid sitting at a computer desk. "My name's Alia, by the way."

Before he could go on a lengthy diatribe about how cool this was and how any scientist from his world would kill to make something like this, he heard a chamber open and a very familiar voice.

"Ugh. Where am I…?"

"Zack?" Upon closer inspection, Cody noticed that his brother was built (if that was the right word) much… bulkier than himself, as if he was meant for heavy combat. He also was an even darker shade of red than Zero.

"Cody?" Zack gave a half-hearted smile, as he was both relieved and confused at the situation.

Cody sighed and returned the smile. "It's a long story, bro. We'll get you up to speed." Looking to X, he motioned for him to start explaining.

…

Axl had stayed strangely silent throughout the whole thing. He was still miffed at the idea of being stuck inside the base. He eyed the last unopened chamber somewhat disinterestedly. The gold-plated girl seemed as if she was sleeping peacefully. He was beginning to drift off himself when the girl started to stir. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. The piercing scream that followed was high-pitched enough to break the capsule's glass tubing and get the others to pay attention.

"Where am I? You better not have kidnapped me! Daddy's going to hear about…" the girl's voice trailed off as she took a good look at herself. She could only stare wide-eyed at her hands and the rest of her new body.

Zack and Cody rushed over, clearly worried about the girl's outburst. They both asked to be excused and led the girl into the next room over.

…

"Are you OK now, London?" Cody asked after a few more minutes of London's panicking. She nodded yes, but she was still shaking violently.

"Good." Zack continued with a sigh of relief. "Now, I'm sure you're probably very scared right now…"

London briefly broke from her fear to give the elder Martin twin a 'no, duh' look.

"That's all right. Believe me, we were, too." Zack motioned for his twin to pick up where he left off, but London beat him to the punch.

"C-can't we get Daddy to take us home?"

Silence fell upon the room. The twins exchanged looks, unsure of what to tell her. They both knew that wherever they were, the likelihood of the Tipton name even being known around here was practically '

"Sorry, London. We can't. In fact, we don't even know where we are. I don't even think that they would know who your dad is."

Zack stepped in to sum it up. "Here, to them, you're not London Tipton, Billionaire Heiress. You're just… London."

The young woman hung her head. Both of her friends tried to think of something uplifting to say. In a rare show of their "twin telepathy", they both simultaneously said, "Don't worry. We'll get you through this."

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><p><strong>Did you like it? I'd love to hear your thoughts!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: Of Navigators and Mavericks

**This one's a little bit of a "bridge chapter". It also should help clear a few things up. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill by now, don't you?**

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

The Suite Life Gang headed back into the laboratory without a word. While X showed visible concern on his face, he didn't question them. After all, how could he respond to what just happened? He decided to just put it aside for now.

"Anyway… we should probably take you three to Troia Base for some training." X said, referring to the Hunters-in training. "We'll split up into three groups: I'll take Cody, Zero will take Zack, and that leaves Axl with London."

The trigger-happy hunter was not pleased. "Why her? She just screamed my ear off. Besides, she probably wouldn't be able to keep up anyway."

"Axl! Give her a chance. She might do better than you think." Alia reproached, slightly irritated by the dual wielder's behavior. He just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Oh, what do you know? I bet I could keep up with you just fine!" London challenged, now locking eyes with her mentor.

"That's the spirit. Scared this little lady will give you a run for your money, Axl?" That voice was that of Signas, who'd been watching their exchange.

Axl grumbled something and crossed his arms. After introducing the twins and London to Signas, Alia had one last piece of business to take care of before sending the Hunters on their way.

"Before you go, there is someone I'd like you to meet." Alia turned to X, Zero, and Axl. "As you know, Layer and Palette have been temporarily reassigned to another Hunter Base near Point Oasis. Well, it turns out that we just happened to have another Reploid that was awakened around the same time as your protégés."

Everyone's (figurative) ears perked up at the statement. Zack, Cody, and London knew who she was talking about immediately, though they hadn't really thought about her since they were on the ship. Alia waved the person in question in. A thin grayish Reploid with a brunette hair color strolled in.

"Bailey, is that really you?" Cody asked in stunned amazement.

She confirmed his suspicions with a nod, and that's all it took for her three friends to come running up to her, with Cody and London hugging her. After the trio filled her in on what had happened, Bailey explained how she had been woken up in a chamber a few floors down by what appeared to be a little girl. Before she could ask who she was however, she ran out of the room. After freaking out a bit at her situation, she wandered aimlessly around Hunter Base until she ran into Alia. The two girls did get to talking, and eventually, Bailey was offered the chance to be a navigator, which she jumped at. She didn't know what to do next, anyway.

WARNING! WARNING!

A blaring red siren got everyone's attention. Alia wasted no time.

"Massive amounts of Mavericks have been detected at 3 distinct locations: the Sky Lagoon Ruins, Central Highway, and the old Eurasia crash site."

"Wait. Haven't we been in all of those places?" Zero inquired.

"Yes. Kind of strange, actually. Nevertheless, you guys need to head out. Oh, and take your pupils, there. They could use the experience."

Zack, Cody, and London were overloaded by all of the information they were taking in. What was happening? Where were they going? And what the heck was a Maverick? Before they could open their mouths to say anything, they were grabbed and warped away to their destinations by their respective mentors.

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><p><strong>Things start getting interesting in the next chapter. Until then, review if you feel like it.<strong>


	6. Author's Note 1

Author's Note

I'm finally back, folks! For those who are wondering why I don't have another chapter of this story up by now (that is, the majority of you), there are two answers to that: one, life gets in the way. College has gotten very busy lately. To be frank, I often don't have enough steam left in the tank (so to speak) to churn out another chapter of this or any other story by the end of it. Secondly, I've actually kind of been stuck on what to do with this chapter. I have decided to reflect on what I have so far here in hopes of sparking some ideas and curing my "writer's block".

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><p>Chapter 1: Lighting up the Night<p>

Here, I tried my hand at writing Zack, Cody, and London's characters. I did attempt to tone down London just a bit. Otherwise, I tried to stick to their series counterparts for the most part (I do plan to take a few bits from the fan fiction community, though). I will have an explanation for the event of the end of the chapter… later.

Chapter 2: Enter the Maverick Hunters

Here, I introduced X, Zero, and Axl. Not much else really goes on here until the very end of the chapter, which leads me to…

Chapter 3: Technical Specifications

This chapter is meant to provide some insight into the Suite Life Trio's abilities as Maverick Hunters. As you might've expected, Zack's a melee fighter like Zero, but with his hand-to-hand style providing a bit of a twist. One thing I forgot to include was his ability to climb walls as opposed to merely clinging to them using the "claws" that replace his fingertips. Cody's essentially a faster version of X who shoots at a faster rate. I also meant to include that he also had access to something that the Azure Hunter himself hasn't had since Mega Man X2: the Dash Shot (shooting basic shots while dashing does double the damage said shots would do otherwise). London, much like her counterpart Axl, focuses on rapid fire attacks and overall agility. She would be able to rapidly kick off walls and glide.

Chapter 4: Waking Up…

I wanted to have most of this chapter be from Cody's perspective because I thought I'd be more interesting to see how the more rational of the Martin Twins would react to a situation like this. It didn't really turn out that way, but I got my points across. That moment with the boys and London was kind of meant to emphasize the group's closeness.

Chapter 5: Of Navigators and Mavericks

This chapter begins snapping London out of her depressed state after the events of the last chapter, as well as bringing Bailey back into the plot. She reveals what she remembers after coming to and how she became a navigator. As for the girl who rescued her, there will be more on her later on. Finally, the action starts to kick in as three different Maverick outbreaks send the Maverick Hunters and their counterparts scrambling for their opening stages.

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><p><span>Mavericks:<span>

Well, it wouldn't be a Mega Man X story without these, now would it? I picked my favorite from each game in the original series (X-X8) and thought about possible interactions they might have with our heroes.

Boomer Kuwanger (Mega Man X)

Wheel Gator (Mega Man X2)

Gravity Beetle (Mega Man X3)

Magma Dragoon (Mega Man X4)

Grizzly Slash (Mega Man X5)

Commander Yanmark (Mega Man X6)

Wind Crowang (Mega Man X7)

Bamboo Pandamonium (Mega Man X8)

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><p>With all that said, I hope to have a new chapter out very soon. Until then, see you later.<p> 


	7. Chapter 6: A Vile Visitor

**Hello to you all! I kept true to my word and got this part out as soon as I could. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Since you already know the drill by now, I'll just put some of my own "fun facts" here. Did you know that this one is my longest chapter to date?**

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

The reddish skies of the remnants of the Sky Lagoon were pierced by two beams of light: one a lighter shade of red than the other. When they hit the ground, they materialized into Zack and Zero. The former's shock had worn off by now, and he was about to chew his mentor out for dragging him out here. That is, until he took a good look around.

The ruins that surrounded him looked like those of a futuristic city. What looked like futuristic buses were in disrepair, strewn about the twisted roads and broken skyscrapers littered about the landscape. That was to say nothing of the crimson skies overhead that would probably be noxious to breathe in had he been human. Only one thought came to the impulsive Martin twin's mind: _What happened here?_ He turned to the ponytailed swordsman with a look that was both questioning and stunned.

Zero sighed as he began, "This place used to be a floating metropolis known as the Sky Lagoon. Thousands of humans and Reploids lived here in relative peace."

"What happened?" Zack asked, unable to keep his rolling emotions from showing in his voice. "This place looks like a bomb went off on it!"

"A Maverick traitor by the name of Magma Dragoon sabotaged the Sky Lagoons engines so it would fall to the ground, killing most of the inhabitants in the process."

"Why? Why would anyone do this?" The darker red Reploid practically spat, truly horrified that one Maverick (whatever that was) could do something so cruel.

"That's the messed up thing. He did all that just to goad X and I into a fight."

"Where is this guy?" Zack growled angrily. "When I get my hands on him, I'll—"

Zero cut him off "Oh relax, Zack. Dragoon's long gone anyway. I made sure of that myself. Besides, I doubt you're ready for a fight like that."

Before his charge could respond, Zero perked up in suspicion at the noises coming from the charred remnants of the buildings. They were certainly not alone. Without warning, dozens of mechaniloids sprang from various parts of the wreckage and went after the duo. Some strange new instinct that Zack couldn't quite place kicked in and he started swinging at the rogue robots. To his surprise, not only did he knock the robots away, but he sent them _flying_. It was as if he was hitting pieces of Styrofoam as he took out one after another. Not to be outdone, Zero made very short work of his foes with his trusty Z-Saber.

With the last of the mechaniloids destroyed, the bowl-cut Hunter snapped out of his battle-induced stupor and took a good look at the damage he'd done. _Whoa._ _Did I… Did I just do all that? _He wondered as he surveyed the damage around him.

"Well, it looks like we're done here." Zero stated, only to be proven wrong when he heard a very familiar cackle.

"Wahahahahahaha!"

_No. It couldn't be. _Zero thought. It surely couldn't be him again, could it?

"Zero, is that you?" the voice asked in mock surprise. "It's been so long…"

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Zack called, putting on a brave face. In reality, he was more than a bit worried. Whoever this guy was, he sounded like he had more than a few screws loose.

Suddenly, a black blur bounded across the wreckage and stopped in a more humanoid form in front of the Hunters. The black Reploid appeared to be armed to the teeth and, at least to Zack, looked kind of like Boba Fett from _Star Wars_.

Zero unsheathed his to-this-point dormant saber and struck a fighting pose. "Vile. I can't say I wanted to see you again. Why don't you ever take the hint and stay dead? Your boss already is."

If he had a mouth to speak of, Vile would've surely had a demented smile on his face. "What, and miss this little reunion of ours? No way!" the Maverick then turned his attention to Zack, whose uneasiness grew. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Vile zipped around Zack, sizing up his new plaything.

"Dude, it's called personal space. Back off." Zack said, trying to hide his fear of this guy behind a mask of defiance. He was pretty sure this guy was what you would get if you gave The Joker access to an armory.

The black-dyed madman simply laughed in his face. "Oh… oh, good!" he paused to laugh some more before continuing. "You should be great fun… that is, until you die!"

With that, Vile hurled two bombs at the heroes. Zack barely got out of the way before one exploded, turning one of the crumbling buildings to ruins. He then fired his side-mounted Gatling gun, sending a spray of bullets the Hunters' way. Zero swatted said bullets out of the sky with his saber while Zack put his hands up instinctively to stop the bullets. To the latter's amazement, the projectiles simply ricocheted off his tough armor. Emboldened, Zack decided to go on the offensive. He ran at Vile with his fist reared back (which, unbeknownst to him, was glowing) for a punch, but Zero beat him to it, slashing the renegade in the shoulder. Vile staggered back, still laughing as he chucked a couple of grenades at Zack and Zero. Both never made it to their marks before they were either punched away or slashed to pieces.

"I'd love to catch up with you more, Zero, but I've got some business to take care of right now. Oh, and I'll see you real soon too…" Vile trailed off.

"Zack." Zack finished, now crossing his arms and glaring coldly at his new adversary.

Vile chuckled. "I'll remember that. Bye-bye, now!"

With that, Vile warped away. Zack wasn't the least bit interested in staying here any longer.

"Can we go now?" He asked.

Zero simply nodded, said something that Zack couldn't quite make out into what he guessed was a communicator of some sort on his right arm, and they both warped away.

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><p><strong>Suggested BGM:<strong>

**Opening Stage (Zero): "Awake Road Again" - Mega Man X7**

**Opening Stage (Zack): "Sky Lagoon (Zero)" - Mega Man X4**

**Read and review if you feel like it. I'd love to hear your feedback!**


	8. Chapter 7: On the Highway

**Yeah, it took a while to finally get this chapter up. You know, school and all. Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Upon touchdown on Central Highway, X took a deep breath to collect himself. Cody, however, couldn't believe what he was seeing. The highway before him was swarming with robots of various sizes and shapes causing havoc everywhere.

Upon realizing this himself, X frowned. "Oh, great. These Mavericks are really making a mess. Guess we've got work to do."

"What?" Cody gasped, surprised. "How are we supposed to clean all of this up?"

"Just follow my lead, OK?" With that, X withdrew his left hand for his X-Buster, much to his blonde pupil's shock. Noticing this, X added, "You should be able to call out your buster with a mental impulse. Just think about it." With that, X took off.

Cody cleared his mind, focusing on calling out his own arm cannon. Soon enough, his own hand was sucked back into his arm in exchange for his own "C-Buster". He didn't have much time to marvel at this, however, as he had to get going to keep up with X.

The dark blue Hunter darted ahead, mowing down the minor enemies almost instinctually with the orb like projectiles coming from his weapon. He made it to a clearing in the destroyed highway right under an overpass. That was when he noticed a gigantic shadow looming over him. Upon looking up, he was met by what looked like a massive mechanical scorpion with a whip like, segmented tail.

Fear gripped the rookie Hunter as the metallic beast glared at what was apparently its newest prey. The brief stare down ended when the scorpion leapt off the overpass and into action, lashing its tail out at Cody. The Martin twin barely managed to leap and roll out of the way before his adversary could skewer him. The mechaniloid then shot a volley of missiles from various openings in its body. While he dodged some of them, a few managed to land plush, burning and blasting Cody off his feet.

Cody's own thoughts went really after that hit along with his body. _Ugh. That really hurt, but what can I do to that thing? It's much bigger than anything I've dealt with up to this point. _Nevertheless, the dark blue robot aimed a volley of shots at the scorpion… with no luck whatsoever. Enraged, the scorpion charged at him. He was kind of at a loss as to what to do, when an idea popped into his head. He readied a shot from his C-Buster, but instead of letting it go immediately, he held onto it. A strange pressure began to build up inside his body. Thrown off by this, he just stood there. He was seconds away from taking what would likely be a very painful tackle when he heard a voice.

"Hey, ugly! I've got something for you right here. Come on!"

Both combatants turned their attention to the speaker, which turned out to be X.

"Cody! Get out of the way. I'll handle this." The less experienced hunter didn't need to be told twice, and promptly moved out of the way.

With a few well-placed charged shots, along with volley a smaller shots, X quickly reduced his enemy to rubble. Cody was watching the whole thing, impressed by how quickly and easily X took the thing down when he himself couldn't even scratch it.

The Blue Bomber breathed a collective sigh when it was all over. He turned to the young hunter that he saved, who was both amazed at what X just did, and shocked by what he just faced.

"Thanks. For saving me, I mean," Cody said, his nerves quite frayed by the experience.

"You're welcome," The Maverick Hunter returned. X silently looked Cody over and realized that his comrade's injuries were somewhat serious. "You're quite banged up. We'd better get you back to HQ. Let's go."

With an acknowledging nod from his protégé, X whispered something into a communicator embedded in his arm and both Hunters promptly warped away.

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><p><strong>Suggested BGM:<strong>

**Opening Stage (X): "Opening Stage"- Mega Man X**

**Opening Stage (Cody): "Sky Lagoon (X)" - Mega Man X4**

**I hope you enjoyed this. Be sure to read and review! **


	9. Chapter 8: World of Confusion

**With this chapter, I wrap up the Opening Stage arc of the story. **

**Disclaimer: I... got nothing.**

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Distorted, ancient hums echoed throughout the Eurasia Colony Crash Site as two Maverick Hunters (one highly experienced, one… not so much) landed on a crumbling slab of concrete. While the navy one was raring to go with an itchy trigger finger, the golden one barely registered the fact that they had landed at all. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"London!" Axl called, picking up on his ally's far-gone state.

The misplaced rich kid snapped out of it upon hearing the foreign voice. Upon realizing where she was, she could only manage a shaky "W-where…?"

"The place where the world almost ended… or at least, that's what X and Zero told me," Axl said as he prepped his guns. He test fired his two pistols up in the air, making London flinch at every shot. "Come on, we've got work to do."

An uneasy silence loomed over the duo as they explored the ruined crater. Strangely, there didn't seem to be anything amiss, aside from the obvious destruction. This set the trigger-happy prototype on edge.

Axl turned to London. "Something's not right here. Be on your guard."

The Reploid teenager stared at Axl as if he'd grown a second head. "Okay…"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

The golden Hunter shook her head, prompting Axl to groan in frustration. This was going to be harder then he thought.

"Fine. Just…just… stay behind me."

Soon, they came to a series of cliff platforms overlooking several rows of spikes. Upon looking at the metallic needles, London cringed and started backing up. Axl forced himself to assume the mentorship role once again.

"Look, you're going to need a running start if you're going to make it over there. Just dash, then jump as high as you can." He promptly demonstrated, rocketing to the nearest safe platform a few feet away. "Oh, by the way," he added, "You _don't_ want to touch the spikes. Just don't."

"You make it look so easy," London yelled back at Axl. Regardless, she gathered up the courage to make a run across the ground which turned into a proper jet-assisted dash. She leapt up like a spring, clearing the spikes with ease. She jumped so high, it took her by surprise. Unfortunately, the landing… wasn't very graceful.

Axl couldn't help but laugh as his pupil hit the ground.

"Nice landing," he said as he helped her up.

London shot a look of annoyance at Axl. "Ha, ha. Very funny."

"Yes. Yes it was. Let's keep moving."

The rest of the trip was largely uneventful, until they got to a silver door. Axl gave out another "keep up your guard" warning before they headed inside.

They were greeted by what looked like half of a giant mechaniloid that seemed to be controlled by a floating eyelike orb. While London stood there seemingly immobilized by fear, Axl Bailey looked at it as if it was a dirty old cup on a sidewalk. He knew he'd been through much worse than this before.

"Please," Axl said, walking towards the robot with an overconfident smirk on his face. "You think you can intimidate me with just your size? Come on, let's see what you can do."

With that, the robot (or rather, its eye) took aim at the cocky reploid and the torso threw itself at him with intent to crush him. Naturally, Axl dodged the large hunk of metal with ease and started pelting the thing with pistol shots. Unfortunately, while said hunk of metal was very easy to dodge, it took a lot of fire. After a while, the navy-colored android began to tire himself. He started taking damage every so often due to some miscalculated dodge maneuvers.

While all of this was going on, London couldn't quite process was going on in front of her. To her, it seemed so unreal, like something that would come out of one of Zack's video games. But this was real, and she knew it. She even pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and considering that she didn't have "skin" per se, that was not an easy feat.

The heiress was shocked out of her state by the sounds of Axl's pained grunts as he took damage. Although she was still scared, for some odd reason, some strange urge to do something welled up in her mind. With all of her previous thoughts shoved to the very back of her mind for the moment, she walked up to the levitating scrap and said, "Get away from him."

The sentient eye and its mechanical puppet paid her no mind and continued to go after their prey. This did not sit well with London at all. With or without her money, one thing about her stayed true: she did _not_ like to be ignored.

"I said, GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

A weapon materialized in her hand suddenly and she fired it at the robot on instinct. An arrow like projectile hit the robot in the face, not damaging it much, but taking its attention away from Axl. It set upon her until the eye was suddenly shot and faded out for a split second. Axl had pulled the trigger there.

"Aim for the eye," Axl shouted, while taking his own advice. "I think it's its weak point."

Clinging to a wall as Axl had shown her earlier, London aimed for the orb that her partner was shooting at. Soon enough, the orb had had enough, and it along with the floating torso started to flash. Both Hunters hit the deck, avoiding the brunt of the explosion that followed.

"We did it," Axl said, staring back at the wreckage of their adversaries before turning to London. "Nice job."

"Um… thanks," the female Hunter responded with a nervous smile before it quickly faded. "But, how do we get home…"

"Leave that one to me." Axl responded before warping them both back to the base.

* * *

><p>A figure cloaked in shadow looked on at Hunter Base from a nearby cliff side. She put a communicator to her mouth.<p>

"I've located Hunter Base… Do we really have to go through with this?"

The owner of the male voice on the other end seemed to shrug off her misgivings. "Of course. It's for our father, after all."

"Fine…" She groaned. _It's for the Father_, she told herself. "Have you been keeping tabs on those Maverick Hunters?

"Certainly. X, Zero, and Axl are being kept busy by our restored Mavericks."

"What about the others?"

"Others?" the male speaker paused for a bit before remembering who she was referring to. "Oh, you mean those 'new' reploids? They've just come off the lot! They couldn't possibly suspect what's really going on here. They can barely fight, anyhow."

The figure sighed. "Fine. I'll head over. Can I bring Kylie along?"

"Sure. Just keep her out of trouble. Good luck Cali."

"Bye, Black." With that, Cali ended the call and leapt off the cliff side to fetch Kylie and fulfill her part of the mission.

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><p><strong>Suggested BGM:<strong>

**Opening Stage (London): "Opening Stage" - Mega Man X3 (PS1)**

**Opening Stage (Axl): "Conflict - Escape Stage"** -** Mega Man X7**

**Quite the cliffhanger, eh? Just who are these mysterious agents, and what do they have to do with the Maverick Hunters? Stay tuned and find out!**


	10. Chapter 9: Aftermath

**Hello again to you all. Sorry I'm late, but here's the next chapter. Let's get rolling!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

"The Maverick outbreaks have been successfully quelled at Central Highway…"

Now, all of the Maverick Hunters, as well as their charges were back at Hunter Base, and X was reporting his and Cody's findings.

"...But, Cody has taken damage. Requesting permission to send him to the Repair Bay."

Signas thought for a moment before making his decision. "Granted. In fact, why don't you show him where it is later…? If you can get there, that is." He directed the last part of that sentence to Axl, who wasn't exactly in the best shape of his life either considering the beating he'd taken earlier.

"Fine," Axl replied.

"Also," X continued. "We made contact with what looked like a giant red mechaniloid based on a scorpion."

Zero's attention was piqued here. He could remember fighting something like that with Axl back when he first met the dual wielding reploid. He glanced at the prototype New Generation Reploid, who was fidgeting restlessly. Axl never knew the meaning of the word _professionalism_.

After getting through with X, Signas turned to the blonde swordsman himself for his report. Zero wasted little time. "Aside from a few rogue mavericks, nothing of note was found."

Zack shot Zero an "are you kidding me" look, which the latter ignored before continuing on.

"That is, until we ran into…" The bright crimson robot almost spat out the next word. "…Vile."

The futuristic Blue Bomber's eyes widened at the mention of his and Zero's old nemesis. "What? That lunatic's been brought back to life again? But how?"

Zero wasn't nearly as surprised at Vile's revival. "Beats me. All I know is that he's back, and more insane than ever. The weird thing is that he wasn't so much interested in killing us right then and there. If anything, he was more interested in Zack for some reason."

As he was listening to this, a cauldron of emotions began to brew in Zack's mind. He thought back to everything he had experienced since getting here, from waking up in his pod a while back, all the way up to now. While he was relieved to know that he had Cody, London, and Bailey with him through all this, that didn't lessen any of the more negative emotions he was feeling. He was still horrified by the fact that one "Maverick" could destroy an entire floating city full of people just for the sake of picking a fight. Although Zero said that the threat had been dealt with, that didn't make him any less angry at Magma Dragoon. And then there was Vile, who probably wrote the book on insanity…Zack shuddered just thinking about him. Despite all that he was feeling, he managed to keep his expression neutral, so he wouldn't tip off anyone as to just how much this was bothering him.

Soon enough, it was Axl's turn to give his report. The navy-colored sharpshooter quickly collected himself before starting. "Aside from the place looking like a dump, there wasn't much there. The only thing we really found was at a clearing at the end of the site: it was a giant mechaniloid controlled by some kind of eye thing."

X's eyes widened in recognition. He had fought something like that before as well. This couldn't possibly be a mere coincidence anymore. Just what was going on here?

Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one having these thoughts, as Alia, who had been here taking all of this in as well, decided to voice her concerns.

"I know I've seen the very same mechaniloids that you guys have brought up. The question is, why would they resurface? And while we're on the subject, what's Vile even doing here?"

X's expression turned worried. "I don't know, but I have a very familiar…and very bad feeling about this." He briefly locked eyes with Zero, and while his expression was more resigned, it was no less telling of his understanding of what his friend meant.

* * *

><p>Eventually the meeting concluded, and Axl escorted Cody to the Repair Bay as promised. As they walked, Cody was busy trying to take in all that he had heard. He had been doing that a lot lately, he realized. He had been particularly put off by how the Maverick Hunters were talking about what they'd just been doing. He had suspicions, but he felt the need to clear them, so he got Axl's attention.<p>

"What?" Axl asked, sounding a bit more annoyed than he'd intended to.

The intelligent Martin twin noticed Axl's tone, but felt the need to ask his question anyway.

"So… does this happen on a regular basis?"

"Usually," Axl answered matter-of-factly. "Although most of the time, we have to deal with some small-scale mechaniloid incident. It's not often that we get dragged into the bigger Maverick outbreaks."

Two words that Cody still didn't know the meaning of stuck in his head. "Um…if you don't mind me asking, what's a Maverick and what's a Mechaniloid?"

Axl recited an explanation that he had given so often by now that the words had become second nature to him. "A Maverick is any Reploid that defies the laws of robotics in a way that causes harm to humans or other Reploids. A mechaniloid is a complex machine that isn't nearly as intelligent as a Reploid. Like simpler machines, they can go haywire and cause havoc, which forces us to step in."

As the prototype reploid finished his piece, the two had arrived at their destination.

"Well, here we are. Just pick one of the tubes over there. It doesn't matter which."

What Axl was referring to was a neatly arranged row of tubes that were surrounded by a bunch of computers displaying data that probably had something to do with however healing went, or so Cody thought. He had way too much on his mind already, and couldn't be bothered to add three more questions to his growing mental backlog.

The dark blue reploid simply picked a tube and got in it. Nothing happened at first, but after about 30 seconds, a strange warm feeling came over him. This did puzzle him, and for a brief moment, he wondered how exactly he was feeling this considering his condition. Soon enough, the warm feeling disappeared. Taking that as his cue, he got out of the chamber. Aside from feeling tired, he was in tiptop shape physically. He glanced back at the machine with a smirk. _If this kind of thing existed back home,_ he thought, _a lot of doctors would be out of a job._

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><p>As for London, she didn't leave the briefing room after the meeting, instead standing in place with a very lost look on her face. In fact, she barely understood what the others were saying while it was going on. Alia picked up on this, and asked to see her in private. However, trying to explain the situation to her straight on proved…less than fruitful. Thankfully, Bailey offered to help. Together, the two navigators went to work breaking things down for the heiress-turned-reploid.<p>

"As you could probably guess, you're a reploid, which is basically a highly advanced robot," Alia began, trying to pick her words carefully.

"Highly ad-what, now?" London responded, still not quite getting it.

Bailey, much to her mentor's relief, stepped in. "Let's just say, you're a very smart robot, London."

The golden Hunter looked unsure for a moment before doing something that would baffle anyone who didn't know her (as rare as that case may be).

"Yay, smart me!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands gleefully. This display of happiness warmed the Kettlecorn native's heart. She'd sensed something very off with her friend, but hadn't gotten the chance to bring it up. Alia, on the other hand, was more than a little unnerved by London's little performance.

"Does…Does she always do that?"

Bailey chuckled to herself. "Oh, you have _no _idea."

After waiting for her to settle down, both Alia and Bailey continued with their explanation. When they got to explaining things that were a little less cut and dry, like Mavericks, even Bailey had to look to her mentor for proper understanding. Since defining the term "Maverick" wasn't exactly an easy task (even Alia herself was very much aware of the gray area that existed in the government's description of the term), she decided it would probably be better to simply keep it black and white for now and just say that they were the "bad guys". She followed suit with mechaniloids, merely likening them to "overgrown construction tools" (which wasn't entirely false, actually).

After what seemed like forever, London, while still not exactly ecstatic about lacking the recognition that she was used to, finally seemed to be grasping the situation she was in. After pointing out where and what the barracks were, the two navigators saw their comrade off.


End file.
